2003 Ford ZX2

My daughter just graduated from college. She's a musician so, like every other musician I know, she can look forward to carrying 3-5 jobs at any given time for her whole career. She is going to need wheels for all her gigs.

Given that she has some student loan debt, I hate to see her get saddled with a large car payment until she gets more settled in. I noticed a 2003 ZX2 with only 53K on the clock for around $6000 at a reputable dealer near us. It looks totally clean and the Carfax is outstanding. The only mod I can see is an aftermarket radio/CD player.

These cars have near-unanimous good reviews on Edmonds and cars.com and get a lot of praise for reliability and fuel economy, two things I sure want to see in a car she's driving.

In case you're not familiar with them, they were the last vestige of the Escort. This model was sold after Escort sedans left the market in 2002. There aren't many around because it got creamed on the sales floor by the then-new Focus.

Any thoughts on if/how we should proceed?
-------------------------------------------Bad decisions make good stories.

You need the following parts from Metra:99-5720 for the dash kit70-5720 for the wiring harness adapter

You can technically do it without the wiring adapter but it would be a tedious process inside the dash. And you would need the factory wiring diagram to determine what was what. And I can give you that. But it is worth the money they want for the adapter.

What I'm saying is that the radio that's in it looks like it's aftermarket. All that stuff was somebody else's problem....unless they screwed it up, of course.
-------------------------------------------Bad decisions make good stories.

Congrats though....and the car sounds like a winner. I don't see too many Escorts, let alone that type. Then again, if your car is more than 2 years old around here, something is "wrong" with you.
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Just out of curiosity, what does your daughter play? I only ask because if it's a string bass, tuba, euphonium or something large, I would avoid a 2-door or sedan altogether, and opt for something with a liftgate. If she's a percussionist and has to drag a drumset around, I wouldn't go with anything smaller than an Escape-sized SUV.As for the ZX2 itself, any owners I've known have loved them and never complained about reliability problems (unlike owners of Focus sedans and wagons from that time). If the Carfax report is all good, I'd say go for it.
--------------------------------------------------------Am I the only one who thinks the MKC should have had suicide doors?

TheCatholicBoat:Just out of curiosity, what does your daughter play? I only ask because if it's a string bass, tuba, euphonium or something large, I would avoid a 2-door or sedan altogether, and opt for something with a liftgate. If she's a percussionist and has to drag a drumset around, I wouldn't go with anything smaller than an Escape-sized SUV.As for the ZX2 itself, any owners I've known have loved them and never complained about reliability problems (unlike owners of Focus sedans and wagons from that time). If the Carfax report is all good, I'd say go for it.

She's an opera singer so she doesn't even use a PA system.
-------------------------------------------Bad decisions make good stories.

TheCatholicBoat:Just out of curiosity, what does your daughter play? I only ask because if it's a string bass, tuba, euphonium or something large, I would avoid a 2-door or sedan altogether, and opt for something with a liftgate. If she's a percussionist and has to drag a drumset around, I wouldn't go with anything smaller than an Escape-sized SUV.As for the ZX2 itself, any owners I've known have loved them and never complained about reliability problems (unlike owners of Focus sedans and wagons from that time). If the Carfax report is all good, I'd say go for it.

don9992:She's an opera singer so she doesn't even use a PA system.

Well, in that case at least space won't be a problem! At least she'll be better off than the tuba players I know who drive Mini Coopers.
--------------------------------------------------------Am I the only one who thinks the MKC should have had suicide doors?